The Sun. — London, England, 1810-05-17 00:00:00

It plus, but proceeded t 6 ittp6se ne* taxes. With the feeling which had of late years existed as-to the inexpediency of imposing new taxes; he owned he thoue,ht Mr. Addington would have done better to epely the surplus as he now recommended. The want of precedent was no argument against him. It by no means• followed that because it had not been done, before, it ought not to be done in the present' instance: •He would again remind the - Committee bow strong a disposition existed since the year 1807 to avoid the imposition of new taxes. In conse quence of that disposition no new taxes were laid on in the years 1807 and 1809; but,in the intermedi a'e year an increase had been made, which pro duced one million more than the exigencies of that year required. Thus they were in etfeel taxed two years oat of three. Adverting lo thessubjeet of the' arrears of the Property' and Assessed Taxes e 'he ob served, that the arrears .colleEted during the last Year amounted, according to the best calculation, to' :280,0001. Tliat circumstance alone .was a strong reason for believing that this was - not the period at which new taxes should be imposed, if, by e polS`- sibility, they could be avoided. In .a revolution, adopted by the House in 1807, ;at-the recommenda tion of the Noble Lord who was his predeces.Sifr in office, it was stated 'to - be their opinion that if in an . average of three years the produce of the assessed taxes ex c eeded the estimate in a certain proporti4i, . the whole of the excess would be at the disposal of', Parliament ; 'and if the produce should fall sliterti)f . the estimate the deficiency to be made good by Par s liament. The principle of that Resolution was not that on which he was ailing. If he were to take the excess of the intermediate years there would be a surplus Q 1,600,0001. more than he wanted ; btit he merely w'ilieet to remind the Committee that such a Resole:toil had been passed. He next ad- . vertecl to the trade of the country, a subje& on which lie was ellaV)led to dwell with pectiliar satis faction. The state of the exports and imports of the last year greatly exceeded that of any year which the country had known before. The imports of the last year amounted to 36,25.5,2091. Those of the year 1802, a year of peace, and tete of 4begreatest amount before known, were 31,442,4'81.--Thus it appeared, that there was an excess in this respect of near 5,000,0001. in the laityear, , over a year of peace and nourishing commerce. The exports of British maeufactures last year amounted to 35,107,0001. ; those of 1802, w ere 26,9113,1-221. Thus there were an excess of bet iveen eight and nine millions in favour of the last year, as compared with the most flourishing year of peace. The ex ports of foreign produce last year amounted to 15,194,3241. Those of 1802 were 19, .27;8331. in this Jespea, therefore, the exports were' not equal to those of 1802, but it was obvious that the excess of the exports of our own manufactures- was much more desirable. The total amount of the ex ports and imports of last year was 50,301,7631. In 1802, they were but 46,1z0,9621. the increase h t..ere. fore was 4,180,8011. The comparative increase of our foreign trade would be striking, were he to take any other year than 1802,- hut he would content himself with the statement he had already made. It .rnight, however, be said that it was not fair to take the exports and imparts of the last year only ; but that the average-ought to have' been struck between the years 1808 and 1809. Be it so ; the average of the imports during these two years was 32,942,2811. The average of the two last years at a per iud of war, (1800 and 1801) was 31,683,0801. This evidently sheaved that our foreign commerce was not only not stationary, but that it was progressive ; although if it had been stationary, that some time ago, was as much as any body expeCted. Of the internal trade of the country he had not the same means of judg ing, but he had been told that in Yorkshire a very considerable increase had taken place last year, iat the manufatclure of cloth.. Mr. WILBERFORCE stated the increase to be a Million and a half of yards. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER observed, that the statement of the Hon. Gentleman cor responded with his own information on the subject. But not only was thegreat increase of internal trade evinced by this ciicuwstauce, but in every other pos sible respeet. The ereCtion of great public works and warehouses, the creation of docks, &c. were com plete proofs of that accumulation of national wealth, without which such efforts could not be made, or if made, would not be encouraged—a wealth grow ing out of individual acquisition and the general trade of the country. This was a subject by no means unnaturally connealed with that before the Committee, for on our agriculture and our com merce depended our revenue. If the two former increased, the latter would stand upon a sure foun dation, and he hoped and trusted that no further apprehensions would be entertained of this being a failing or, a- falling country. However much the Committee might and must lament the pressure of the times on individuals, they lad reason to congra tulate themselves on being in such a state with re spe& to general prosperity as to warrant no appre hensions of national calamity. The view of our foreign relations was most important and most cheering. Not many years ago the enemy had told the world that all that remained to enabled hint to satiate his amb:tion was the acquisition of " ships, colonies, and commerce." Front that declaration it was not unreasonable to suppose that there w ere p ossess i ons which lie expected to obtain by his ex ertions against us. Wnat had been the result of his projects ?- What the result of our efibrts to resist him ? He not only made a progress, but he made a, retrograde motion. He had lost all his colonies, and almost all his commerce ; and as-tor ships, his navy, however numerous they might be, were not in a state to induce them to venture out of their ports. As be was on this subjeet, he would report to the Committee some of the details of the French Minister of Finance on-the revenues of that coun try. .The customs in France in 1808, produced only 2 millions of francs. The French Minister declared that this was lesi than two thirds of the sum'to which the customs had been. reduced in the pre ceding year, but that the circumstance was one that was rather gratifying than otherwise to France, be cause England had suffered a diminution of 460 millions in her yearly exports; and that while the trade of France was merely restricted that of Eng land was utterly destroyed. It was evident that ; n Franc , during the operation of the Orders in Couticii, - the forties (*le. esf that eout try bad been reduced 4-Obs of its .whole amount. He men tioned ttese tircUmstances for the dile considetation Of those who could see nothing but consummate ability and wisdom in the councils of the enemy, and nothing but the extreme of folly and imbecility in the councils of their own country. He conclud ed by repeating, that the general appearance of trade furnished hint with the most flatttring hopes, and with the rifflest ground for the conviaion, that the revenues of Great Britatn would prove fUlly adequate to any efforts, however vigorous or long continued, which she might be called upon to make. -.The first ResOlution, for raising by loan the sum of eight millions for Great Britain and four millions for lreland, was then read and agr e ed to. _ the second Resolution, which involved the terms of this loan, Mr. HUSKISSON never thought that the resources of the country were in a slate of failure, on the con trary, he believed, that notwithstanding the great demands, the .. national capital was increasing ; • his propositictn . was; -that there should be a limit to taX ,ation„' wkieh . he had likewise endeavoured to' sup port... - He:simply wished to ask if 1,200.,0001. was a sum suffieient to'Carry on a. war under such peculiar circumstances ; ? 'ton this 'subjed his - _Right Hon. Friend had not touched. Heriad stated that he was - corripetent to' meet the additional charges, but did not "particularly coMprehend in his view the re sources of the succeeding year; of Huse prospects he had a right, if not now, in future, to expect an explanation. Suppose the 15 tatnents had been brought forward 'with, the'Ocksion, that the war was either shortly toesid, or last a number of yews. Look to both alternalives ; if the ratter be Adopted, : we must conyider a redUction:hvoist annual expen ' diture abspliiiyly necessary ; if tOt of the restoration of peace .tie,preferred, we-May .'expett, a relief .from our anntJal Jurdeulc, vpfiiefi , di.iing the War, cannot be; taken consistent „With . • the maintenance .and establishment - of the public credit,. •When his Right Honourable Ftieekd i pioposes fq.4ake away one millioh, he siii)poskd . - 4 did not include the pro sped of-ac - peaoe establishment, ' The Committee should tarn (heir. .corisideration . 'tiot theimanneY ; they should'get over tb.is Budget, ),tut. to Ow next, notito,the difficulties in , the present,,, but in the cu. ,. suing Session. Such a 'mode of i&ing renh . lnds halt of an auecdote of a person." whdpresided over the Finance of France; a 'friend. asked him. " if, he should go on in 'the' - wily he_ was pnrgti ing, what. would become of the people_?" • To this he 'replied; ‘‘. -It will last our'aisne," or rather, in the idiomatic language of _the country his answer was, " Apres nous ledelugi." He was not an advocate for betraying ' 'any weakriess pr . doubt of resources to the enemy ; on the con t r a ry,.. he wished to spew him the measure of our sttength. He lamented that his Right Hon. Friend shohld.call in question wh it his view of the charges might` be ; the loan and the surplus of the consolidated fund,. &c. amounted in all to . 20,220,0001.: with this he was quite satisfied. The stamps were first consoli dated in 1106. At that time a great addition was made. They were consolidated again since. Still there was nothing to continue the growth of that part of the revenue. As to the increase of the Ma rine Insurance, which was 1,20°,0001. he attributed it wholly to himself. In the present instance the grounds which had been acted .on for the last two or three years were only shifted; however, it must give pleasure not only to the Committee, but to Gentlemen of the country, to find that no additional taxes are to be laid on. In the statement of the supplies, he was consider- , ably disappointed ;—he understood, in the open ing of the Session, that there were to be great retrenchments in the establishment, he thought that an abatement might be made coincident and consistent with the war, the necessity of which must appear evident ; he did now intend to enter at large into the subjett, but he was convinced that some millions might be dedu&ed from the annual expenditure, and this he had the most sanguine ex peeations might be done without the smallest in jury to the country.—When the Army Estimates , were agreed to, in the state the House was in at that time, consisting of not more than forty Mem- - bars, he did not make any observations.. From the grant of 145,000 seamen, lie supposed the country would not be in safety without them,. at the same time lie would observe, that such a number had never been before granted, some reasons therefore should have been stated. It was proposed• that our navy should be equal to all the navies in the world, and that we should have a reserve besides. With the necessity of this he agreed, but thought that Many difficulties would arise from such an exten sion. It had been said out of doors that liberty was desirables this, however, was not alone the objet of the country. The expedition to Copenhagen in i 801 was not the first, then a great naval force had been sent, and in 1805 120,000 seamen, under Lord Nelson, achieved the Battle of Trafalgar ; at that time the fleets of the enemy wet e in every part Of Spain and Portugal, yet such a demand as the pre sent was not thought of. With respe& to the Navy estimates, the nature of the war in which we are en gaged has not been discriMinatod rrom the last.— Then France was deprived of commerce, and poor in revnue ; at present she is not so; then there was a necessity for naval superiority, as on it depended the .restoration of peace; it does not depend on it now, for if our fleets were doUbled, it could not thus be obtained. Our enemy possesses Europe ; the Kings which he has made vassals to his throne are, as it were, his commissaries and recruiting serjeants;w ho send him never-failing mean of carrying on a war. He pays now no regard to c tminerce, his ambition has taken another turn; he, like every Other usurper; has a peculiar madness, and this is directed to the destruction of commerce; whatever diminution his revenue may suffer from this, he makes up by exac tions in other parts of the world.- The revenue in the other parts of the kingdom ought to be looked to, five millions and a half are to be raised in Ire land by extraordinary means. He charged therefore the Committee to look seriously, and find out the. views of the Right Hon. Geittleinan. Mr. Ross thought that several things asserted by his Right Hon. Friend had been overstated. Ex pressions he had used out of doors had been alluded to; l,e certainly did say that there was a positive ne cessity of retrenchment, to twc or three persons in ttnfidence,-but did not expect it to be iiS)liSheil. He was convinted that whim•iver 'the Minittels were next year, they would come down to the House with a bad grace, if they were not able to state where retrenchments could be made. He believed that a considerable reduction. might be made without endangering the safety of the country, yet if it appeared to be attended with hazard, it should not be adopted. As to, the increase of 15,000 sea men, he did not see any reasonable grounds for it. It was, in his opinion, totally unusual for Ministers to state what taxes they intended introducing next year; the measure itself was not commendable, for " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" What ever our resources may be, superabundance in the termer year does not justify the propriety of laying on new taxes. If one million has been given to the Sinking Fund, it is better now to take the Supply from that than impose new taxes. Although tins measure was not adopted in Mr. Addington's time, yet the country was not then exhausted as it is now; to this effea he read a clause from the Consolidating Al,. which was passed in 1787. It would have been unpardonable in laying new taxes : enough has been done for posterity, and as such sums as are wanting can be raised from the Sinking Fuld, unneces,ary burden should not be impored ou the people. Mr. TIERNEY made a few observations. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER observed, that the terms upon which the Loan had been this day negociated was, in his opinion, the best proof of the increasing wealth and resources of the court. , try, and gave the best assurances of hope that in future the people would be enabled to bear the bur thens which. the necessities of affairs might induce: With respe& to the prosperous state of the coun try, and the application of the Revenue, he agreed with his Honourable Friend and the Right Ho nourable Gentleman, that under any Government less disposed to pay attention to measures of eco , nomy, it might rather be productive of evil than good. It however could not be denied that there were considerable diminutions in many of the items, certainly not in so great a degree as that the.Commito e ceu:d look to them as any ma e. ial In the Ordnance there was a saving this year of l ) 500,000i. In the army 800,0001. and there was most assuredly an increase in the navy expense of be tween 2 and 300,0001. It would be recollect, how ever,.with respect to the increase in the nary, that he - had stated. formerly that expectation from the necessity ot: making an addition to the number of sea.. Wen of 15,000 more than the number in the former year, for the purpose of affording assistance to our allies in Spain. I'he Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite seemed to regret the good fortune which awaited his Majesty's Government ; he appeared somewhat jealous_ of it, and looked at it with a sour eye, and talked of his (Mr; Perceval's) having abused the resources, which the predecessors in office of his Majesty's present Government had provided for them. , The faa was not so ; for, so far from having abused the system of the last Government, he had uniformly commended it, nay he would put it to many of his Friends to say whether when he (Mr. P.) was in Opposition he kid sup ported the,system which precluded the necessity of laying any taxes for three years. Was it then to be expected, supporting a system when out of office, and having acted upon it when in, that those very Gentlemen who originated it should now turn round and condemn it ? The Right Hon. Gentleman then .. defended the produce of the different duties allud , ed to by some Hon. Gentleman, and contended that he had left tho surplus of the consolidated fund higher than the preceding year, and that, there was every probability it would instead 4,400,0001. be the next year 5,000,0001. With respect to the complaint of the Right Honourable Gentleman as to the breach of faith, he could not com prehend what he meant by it. When a loan was contracted for, all the contractors required was, that the faith of Parliament should be pledged fir the fulfilnkett of the contract, in case the do— vernment did not ; but as to the idea of the interest being guaranteed to them out of the Consolidated Fund, there neither was, nor could be, any such stipulation. Some convex - cation, in the way of explanation, then arose between Mr. Tierney, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Rose, Mr. H. Thornton, and Mr. Huskisson. Sir THOMAS TURTON congratulated .the House on the flourishing state of the resources. He wished however to be informed, whether it was the inten tion of his Majesty's Minister s t o ma k e any altera tion in ihe collection of the Property Tax ; it not, -he should state - his objections to it on another op portunity. . _ The resolutions were agreed to, the House re sumed, and the report was ordered to be received to-morrow. • The Irish Malt Bill was read a third time and passed. Sir Jont4 NEWPORT postponed his motion (which stood for to-morrow) respeCting Sir George Shee, until Thursday se'nnight. LAMBETH WORKHOUSE RILL. Mr. SHERIDAN adverted to a Bill for regulating the workhouse at Lambeth, which hod inadver tently passed both Houses, although it. contained a clause of a natrre wholly unprecedented. al Fri day next lie would submit to the House some mo tion on the subject. Mr. WHITBREAD obtained leave to bring in a Bill to explain, and render more eficival the Woi k house A& of last Session. The Overseers' Accounts Bill went through a Committee, the repo: t of which was received, and ordered to be taken into further consideration on Tuesday, and to be printed as amended. The other •Orders of the Day were disposed of, and the House at Eleven o'Clock adjourned. Another Com Mon Hall is, by appointment of the Lord Mayor, to be convened on Monday next. We understand that the requisition to his Lordship ex presses the purpose of the intended ,Meeting to be " to take into consideration the teje6,tion of the late Petition of the Livery to the House of Commons, and to assert the independence and dignity of the Livery in Common Hall assembled, against the ca lumnies of men calling themselves Liverymen of London, and signing their Address and Declaratith at a Tavern." _Lill' REPOT COURT OF KING'S BENCIT. MAY THE KING V. THOMAS PICTON, ESQ. 'lt Will be recolleaed by our -Readers, that tf;e defendant was tried some time agO,in thi, Court,. • upon an indiament, charging him, whilst in the capacity of his Majesty's Governor of the Island of Trinidad, with having infllaed, or caused to be in!' flitted, upon a young woutan Of the name - of Louisg Caldron, a native inhabitant of that Island, do; . T punishment of the torture. They will also recd lea, that upon the trial the Jury found a Special , Verdict, subje& to the opinion of th e C o u r t upod . the law of the case, whether the defendant guilty Or not. The verdict stated, that the punish ment of torture Vas inflided ; that it w as i n flitied under and by virtue of the authority and command' of the defendant; that the punishrrc ( nt so inflicted was a part of the law of the Island, and inflicted the Constituted Authorities there, before and after the capture thereof by the British forces; and upolf this finding of the Jury, it was reseeved for the Court to say whether the case of the defendant cadid . within the comprehension of the law, as by the construe lion the thing was done " maliciously" by the defendant. On a former day the, affirmative of - this was con tended for by Mr. NOLAN, in support of the prose cution ; and this day Mr. STEPHENS, on behalf of the defendant,, Was heard at considerable length in . support of the negative. The Learned Gentlervin. argued the points which he contended fur 1.4'1 01 great zeal and eloquence, and urged in strong and impressive terms, that his client was entitled to 3 complete acquittal. He limited the heads of his ar gument to three distin& particulars :—First, that torture did constitute a part of the criminal prom' dure in the Island of Trinidad, before and atter IL: Was captured by the British forces. Secondly, that the infliction of this mode of punishment was 3 judicial proceeding, inflicted by the authority of a Court having competent jurisdiction ; and, third/Y, that the thing being done in a judicial capacity, he, the defendant, could not in law be presumed to hav e exercised it " malaciou•ly," and that therefore the defendant's case was not comprehended within the indictment, and that consequently he ought to be acquitted. The observations used in the mainte nance of the two first grounds were addressed 0 1111 considerable force both to the feelings and to gld wisdom of the Court. On his being about to pro ceed to the third, he was stopped by the-Court, 3 . 5 Lord ELLENBOKOUGH had 10 sit at Nisi Prius to Guildhall ; but he is to resume the subject again morrow, by his Lordship's appointment. A Gentleman who had practised as a Spanish Ad' vocate, stated to their Lordships, as an ormelif curia?, the particular joricdiction . df .the Courts of the Caraccas. He spoke in very good English, aud was habited as an English Barrister. - EXTIIAORDINAII? ROBBEItY.-011 Tuesday night , about eleven o'clock, as an old Gentleman, wh ° resides in the neighbobrhood of Manchester-street , was sitting in his front parlour, no other person be ing in the house, he was extremely alarmed by the sudden appearance of a m in, with a black crape`l over his face. The terror of the old Gentleman I. o ‘ considerably increased by the man not speakirig, 13411 repeatedly making a noise like the barking of a mos' tiff dog. The robber opened the backparlourdoor , and beckoned to the old Gentleman to follow him; which he refused. The robber then shook him by the shoulders, to induce him to go. The old Gen' tleman still refusing, the robber forced him into the back parlour, pointed at an iron safe, and !m id° signs for him to open it. Th e o ld Gentleman 11°. complying, the robber proceeded to take the key s from him ; and, in the scuffle, the old G e nder/1 1 fell over a chair, and a t a bl e f e ll upon hi m, w hich cut open his nose, broke hi s s hi ns , an d b ru i se d 1 01 in other parts of his body in a most shocking wa ll ; ner. The robber appeared to know the key of th safe, and proceeded to unlock it, and took out Og re gold watches, three gold snuff-boxes, several di e mond and pearl rings, and ot h er tr i n k ets, to 'b e e amount of between 4 and 5001. t h en , a f ter g it the old Gentleman sev t r a l Iffy severe blows, took the candle, left the room, and lock' e the old Gentleman i n . Af ter some t i me til old Gentleman r ecovere d hi mse lf , opened the window, and gave an alarm to the neighbou r ' hood, no other person being in the house- 5, neighbours were obli g ed t o h ave recourse to a 13,,e der, and got over the yard wall, and then br°l open the doors. They found that the villains left the candle in a corner of the front parlour , . ~ such a position, as there was no doubt but he tt tended it should set fire to the house ; •but nately the tallow had run . Th e o ld Gentleruihy keeps a carriage, which was out with his niece, resides with him, and the footman • attending bec j they did not return till one o'clock. It so happel e that there was no female servant belonging to ! 1 ,, family at the ti me , t h e o ld Gentleman hav it ii changed his servants very often lately, and it o t . l , not be ascertai ne d by w h at means the robber Obil ed admittance into th e h ouse , b ut i t i s suppose d the area ; and it is strongly suspected that t l o robber wa s a servant , w h o h a d f urtnerly lived j the family. • SfilP NAWS. CRAVESIIND, MAY IS. se' Sailed—the General Well es l ey , chanver, for India; becca awl Sarah, k^. atson, l'or ‘ Lisbon ; Betsey, Ric"'Di, f B or Dublin ; and the _Olive ranch, Williams, for 133 i dJes. • BIR tn. On Monday last, the Lady of W. H. Burnley', " 4. Upper Charlotte-street. } 1 It it O. ceor On the 15th inst. a t S t . G eorge ' s, Bloomsbury, —,-,,,ei 0 Stirling, Esq. of Glasgow, to Anna, third daughter of la - Stiring, Esq. of Righf Yesterday, the Lady Mayoress, only daughter of the ,„ t o Hon. the Lord Mayor, to Thomas Kennedy, 1 7 ,sq. of L t '' ' lotte-street. PRICE Ot Y ES TE Fuca6 R DAY. 16 111 i Bank Stock, 265,4 265- Bank L. Ann. ai• 9' Navy 5 per Lent. too f 104 7.l6rtis 9 1601 s for Indiaßonqs, 17s. pr. pr' Irish 5 per Cent. Excheq. Isii is, 25 . 6s. r - , 4 Per Cent. 8i A. 84i 8 51 Imperial 3 per Cent. 3 per Cent. Red. 69 $ i Ditto Ann. / 'pil per Cent. Cons. 704 , Cons. for 24 inst. 70 i 7 1 if: i _ . L )1\ LON : Printed by RICHARD HARRIS, of No. 4, Martlett.court, Bow.strect ; and Pcbliitied by WILLIAM ARMIGER SCRIPPS, South Molton.street. GroPvenor square. At the SUN•OFFICE, No. 113, Strand, where Advertimmemta, Oriers tor the Paper, Letters for the Editor, &c. ipoq-plid), must be addressad. ~.